Best song on each album

[ToT-147]

1- The Ytse Jam

2- Metropolis pt 1

3- Erotomania

4- Hell's Kitchen

5- The Dance of Eternity

6- The Glass Prison

7- This Dying Soul (hardest choice)

8- Octavarium

9- The Ministry of Lost Souls

10- The Count of Tuscany

11- Outcry

12- The Bigger Picture

[Rodni Demental]

I'll give this a shot, however it's worth noting that these probably change everytime I listen through the albums:

WDADU - Toss up between The Killing hand and Light Fuse.

I&W - Very hard choice between Learning to Live and Metropolis and even Glass Moon but uh, if I can say Wait for Sleep/Learning to live as one answer then that.

Awake - Voices hands down (Or better yet, the whole A Mind Beside Itself). The Mirror's up there but most of this album is amazing anyway.

FII - New Millennium, Lines in the Sand, those two are tops.

SFAM - Beyond this Life, not much else to say, the rest works with the whole but this one stands out. Wait... Home too.

6DOIT - The Glass Prison 'nuff said.

TOT - Honor Thy Father, yeah seriously.

8vm- Octavarium and Root are about equal.

SC - Constant Motion.

BC&SL - A Rite of Passage = The Count of Tuscany.

ADTOE - Breaking all Illuions = Beneath the Surface.

DT - Illumination Theory = The Bigger Picture.

For the last 3, I equally enjoy both despite the fact that they're generally quite different and wouldn't normally get compared. So it was impossible to rank accurately therefore I decided I like each of them about the same amount.

[RJ86]

WDADU - The Killing hand

I&W - Learning to live

Awake - Space Dye Vest (favorite album front to back, so this was tough)

FII - Trial of Tears

SFAM - Home (another tough one. so many great songs here)

SDOIT - The Glass Prison

TOT - In the Name of God... If I have to pick one. Didn't really like this album, or the next 3..

8vm- none

SC - none

BC&SL - none

ADTOE - Breaking all Illusions! Seriously, I think this should have just been named Learning to Live Pt 2 

DT12 - Illumination Theory

[Dream Team]

Only a Matter of Time
Metropolis
Scarred
Trial of Tears
Overture 1928
The Great Debate
In The Name of God
Octavarium
Repentance
The Count
Breaking all Illusions
Surrender to Reason

Actually that's kind of a mixture of "best" and "favorite" (yes they are slightly different lists for me, see music can be objective  )

[Rattlehead]

Ytse Jam
Learning To Live (basically a tie between this and Take The Time… LTL if I really have to pick one  ) 
Voices
Lines In The Sand
Beyond This Life
Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
Endless Sacrifice
Octavarium
The Ministry Of Lost Souls
The Count Of Tuscany
Breaking All Illusions
Illumination Theory

[jsbru]

As a counterpart to Darkstarshades' worst song thread, I decided to make a thread where we can list and discuss what we think the best song on each Dream Theater album is.

When Dream and Day Unite- Afterlife (It's song structure is more straightforward than the rest of the songs making it easier to appreciate.)
Images and Words- Take the Time (This is also the song that the non-DT fans I know seem to like when I'm listening to it.)
Awake- Scarred (It's a toss up between this and Voices. Today I go with the former.)
Falling Into Infinity- Trial of Tears (This is just a beautiful song to listen to.)
Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory- The Dance of Eternity (To this day I'm still blown away by every second of this song.)
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence- Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (How the band managed to make a 42 minute song cohesive and engaging is a testament to their greatness.)
Train of Thought- Stream of Consiousness (This is really tied with Vacant but I prefer to listen to them as one piece.)
Octavarium- Octavarium (The best song ever written by anybody.)
Systematic Chaos- Constant Motion (This song gets me pumped.)
Black Clouds & Silver Linings- The Count of Tuscany (Of all of their epics, this one makes me feel like I've gone on a musical adventure more than any of the rest.)
A Dramatic Turn of Events- Breaking All Illusions (The best of their mini-epics.)
Dream Theater- Illumination Theory (This just recently edged out Surrender to Reason as my favorite from this album.)

Wow...you and I have the same tastes.  I agree with everything on here, except on Dream Theater, I'd probably go with Looking Glass...but it's close between this and Surrender to Reason.

[Outcrier]

Hm... i'm gonna post my list again, now with some thoughts:

WDADU - The Killing Hand, no contest.

IAW - Learning to Live.

Awake - Voices though Scarred and The Mirror comes close.

FII - Lines in the Sand, followed closely by Trial of Tears.

SFAM - Fatal Tragedy, another close call, this time with Home.

SDOIT - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence but the whole album is strong, most songs here being top 10 (The Glass Prison) or top 20 (Blind Faith) material.

TOT - This Dying Soul.

8V - Octavarium. Best song on an average album.

SC - In The Presence of Enemies easily. And i don't like it that much.

BC&SL - A Nightmare to Remember mostly because of the "Beautiful Agony" part and i never was a fan of TCOT.

ADTOE - Bridges In The Sky. Best song they did since Octavarium.

DT12 - The Looking Glass.

[mrrct]

Yesterday, I posted my least favorites from each album.  Tonight, I post the best (or at least my favorites) from each album.

WD&DU:  The Killing Hand
I&W:  Metropolis Pt. 1
A:  Space Dye Vest
FII:  Trial of Tears
SFAM:  The Spirit Carries On
SDOIT:  Six Degrees, especially Losing Time/Grand Finale
TOT:  As I Am
O:  The Root of All Evil
SC:  Forsaken
BC&SL:  The Count of Tuscany
ADTOE:  Bridges in the Sky
DT:  The Enemy Inside

Maybe it's cheating, but on some of their live albums/EPs there are some of their best tracks.  The live version of The Killing Hand on Live at the Marquee makes that album worth the price by itself.  The title track of Change of Seasons is incredible, as are the live covers of Love Lies Bleeding and Perfect Strangers.  The full-band arrangement of The Silent Man on LSFNY is my favorite version of that song, and the guitar solo on Live at Budokan's Hollow Years makes a meh song worthwhile. 

[Stadler]

Maybe it's cheating, but on some of their live albums/EPs there are some of their best tracks.  The live version of The Killing Hand on Live at the Marquee makes that album worth the price by itself.  The title track of Change of Seasons is incredible, as are the live covers of Love Lies Bleeding and Perfect Strangers.  The full-band arrangement of The Silent Man on LSFNY is my favorite version of that song, and the guitar solo on Live at Budokan's Hollow Years makes a meh song worthwhile.

This.  Two of my top ten favorite songs from DT don't appear on the official studio album releases (Cover My Eyes, To Live Forever) and two more (Eve, Raise The Knife) are strong contenders.   And I haven't even gotten to the live stuff yet...  I know it's polarizing (the song and the whole set) but to me, "Surrounded" from CiM (with the Mother and Sugar Mice interpolations) is a band highlight for me as well.

[hefdaddy42]

I agree with a lot of that.  But it isn't really in conflict with this thread, which is not "What do you think are DT's best songs" but merely "Best song on each album".

[ToT-147]

Exactly.. In fact, some are taking into account the Cleaning Out the Closet album..

Cleaning Out the Closet - 57. Raise the Knife

Unrel:    Eve (9.5/10)

[Laughingplace56]

WDaDU: Only a Matter of Time
I&W: Learning to Live
Awake: Space Dye Vest
FII: Trial of Tears
SFaM: Finally Free
SDoIT: The Glass Prison
ToT: Vacant
8VM: Octavarium
SC: ItPoE, Pt. 1
BC&SL: The Count of Tuscany
ADToE: Bridges in the Sky
DT12: Illumination Theory

8/12 are album closers. Huh. Funny how that worked out xD

[Train of Naught]

When Dream and Day Unite- The Killing Hand
Images and Words- Metropolis pt. 1 (Take the Time is a close #2)
Awake- The Mirror
Falling Into Infinity- Lines in the Sand
Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory- Home
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence- The Glass Prison (Blind Faith is a close #2)
Train of Thought- Endless Sacrifice
Octavarium- Octavarium
Systematic Chaos- In the Presence of Enemies
Black Clouds & Silver Linings- The Count of Tuscany
A Dramatic Turn of Events- Breaking All Illusions
Dream Theater- Illumination Theory

[ResultsMayVary]

Ytse Jam
Under A Glass Moon
Voices
A Change of Seasons ( )
Trial of Tears (and Raise The Knife. I love both equally)
Beyond This Life
The Glass Prison
Stream of Consciousness
Octavarium
In The Presence of Enemies
The Count of Tuscany
Breaking All Illusions
The Looking Glass